Bowling alley pin sweeping mechanism



June 28, 1960 B. L. SCHERZINGER sowuuc ALLEY PIN SWEEPING macmmsm FiledSept. 25. 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VE N TOR A TTORNE Y5 June 28, 1960 B.L. SCHERZINGER 2,942,884

BOWLING ALLEY PIN swssymc MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 25,1957 m4 ONQ INVENTOR 13mm I d8 RN ATTORNEYS June 28, 1960 B. L.SCHERZINGER 2,942,884

BOWLING ALLEY PIN SWEEPING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25. 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet3 INVENTOR AOBY 7 I E ATTORNEYS B. L. SCHERZINGER 2,942,884

BOWLING ALLEY PIN SWEEPING MECHANISM June 28, 1960 Filed Sept. 25. 19576 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VE N TOR 14 TTORNE Y June 28, 1960 B. 1..SCHERZINGER 2,942,384

BOWLING ALLEY PIN SWEEPING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet5 WAD ATTORNEYS June 28, 1960 B. 1.. SCHERZINGER 2,942,384

BOWLING ALLEY PIN SWEEPING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet6 M fixkiiggi W @W United States Patent BOWLING ALLEY PIN SWEEPIN GNIECHANISM Bruno L. Scherzinger, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as-

signor to Mechanical Pin Resetter C0,, Ltd., Calgary, Alberta,'CanadaFiled Sept. 25, 1957, Ser. No. 686,154

Claims priority, application Canada Dec. 6, 1956 1 Claim. (Cl. 273-54)This invention relates to machines for resetting pins in a bowlingalley, and is particularly concerned with an improved sweeping mechanismfor clearing the alley of deadwood i.e. fallen pins and occasionallyballs, between the balls of a frame and at the conclusion of a frame.

Canadian Patent No. 532,156 issued October 23, 1956 (United Statesapplication Serial No. 528,711, filed August 16, 1955) contains adescription and illustration of a complete bowling alley resettingmachine, which machine includes an alley sweeping mechanism. It isreferred to in such prior application as Section (B) of the machine. Thepresent invention is concerned with an improved form of alley sweepingmechanism and reference to the prior application showing the wholemachine is made purely to facilitate appreciation of the part that suchan alley sweeping mechanism playsin the overall operation of a typicalbowling alleyres etting machine. It is to be expressly understood that"the alley sweeping mechanism of the present invention may be employedwith "other resetting machines of different structure, the function thatthe sweeping mechanism is required to perform being basically the sameregardless of other details of operation of the machine.

Various difiiculties have been experienced in sweeping mechanisms ofprior construction. It has been found diflicult to obtain reliability ofoperation without undue complexity of construction.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provideimprovements in this regard, that is to say to provide a dependablemechanism employing a relatively small number of links.

In pin setting machines the sweeping mechanism is subjected to roughusage and is called upon to handle pins disposed in all kinds of randompositions. Moreover, due to continued use, the pins may not alwaysconform to the specified dimensions. As a practical matter these factorsmake it almost impossible to prevent an occasional jam." One of theobjects of the present invention is to provide a design of sweepingmechanism in which the likelihood of a jam occurring is reduced as faras possible and in which the machine is rendered inoperative for asshort a time as possible if a jam does occur. In particular, it is anobject of the invention to prevent the machine inflicting damage toitself or the alley or the pins, in the event of a jam.

One form of alley sweeping mechanism constructed in accordance with thepresent invention is illustrated by way of examplein the accompanyingdrawings. In these drawings:

Figure 1 shows a side view'of the sweeping mechanism in its inoperativeposition;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the parts in the forwardoperative position at an early stage of operation, the sweep having justbeen lowered to the alley floor;

Figure 3 is a further view similar to Figures 1 and 2 ice showing theposition of the parts at a later stage in the sweeping operation;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but serving to illustrate themanner of operation of the mechanism if the sweep becomes jammed;

Figure 5 is a further side view of the mechanism showing the positionsof the parts when the sweep is in its fully rearward position; and

Figure 6 is a front view of the mechanism seen from the bowling end ofthe alley showing the parts in the position they occupy in Figure 3.

For simplicity of illustration, no attempt has been made to show theremaining parts of the resetting machine.

The machine will have a suitable source of motive power, e.g. anelectric motor (not shown) and this motor will drive the sweepingmechanism through a transmission 1 which will also include suitableapparatus for timing the movement of the sweeping mechanism in relationto the movements of the other parts of the machine, principally thoseparts which serve to set and reset bowling pins P on the pin supportingarea of the alley surface S. The transmisison 1 drives the sweepingmechanism through a shaft 2 which carries at each end a crank arm 3. Asappears from Figure 6, the crank arm 3 and the elements driven by thisarm are duplicated on the other side of the alley. The text whichfollows will in the main be confined to describing those parts on theleft-hand side of the alley as seen in Figure 6, namely those partsvisible in the other views.

' A main'rigid activator link 4 slightly bent at an intermediate point 8is pivotally mounted at one end on an upstanding projection 5 of theframe of the machine about a pin 6. The intermediate point 8 of thisactivator link 4 is connected to the crank arm 3 by a connecting link 7.4

Pivotally mounted on the free end of the activator link 4 is a drivinglink 9 which, at its free end, is pivotally connected by a pin 11 to anintermediate point of a main sweeper arm 10. At its upper end, the mainsweeper arm 10 is pivotally connected 'by a joint 13 to one end of amain support arm 12, which arm 12 is also mounted to swing about the pin6 supported in the projection 5 of the frame. The arm 12 extends beyondsuch pivotal mounting to form an extension 12a which carries near itsfree end a weight 21.

The lower end of the sweeper arm 10 carries a pivotal joint 14 aboutwhich a bell-crank lever 16 is pivoted. This bell-crank lever 16 extendsfrom a pivotal connec tion 17 at one end, past the joint 14, downwardlyto the alley floor. 'A transverse rod 16a extends across the alley tojoin the lower ends of the two bell-crank levers 16 (see Figure 6). Thebell-crank levers 16 and the rod 16a serve to'carry a sheet 15 of lightmetal which forms the sweep itself. This sheet 15 extends fullyacrossthe width of the alley and, when the parts are in a lowered sweepingposition such as Figure 2 or Figure 3, to within about an inch of thealley floor. It also has downwardly projecting ears 15a at each sidewhich sweep the gutters G of the alley. a

The upper end of each bell-crank lever 16 is pivotally connected at 17to a further arm 18. Each arm 18 extends parallel to each sweeper arm 10and forms a closed rectangular parallel link mechanism therewith byvirtue of a link 20 which is pivotally connected to the upper end of thearm 18 through a joint 18a and to the joint 13. The link 20 is actuallyone arm of a bell-crank lever,

the other arm 20a of which is connected by a pivotal A pin 26 mounted oneach main sweeper arm 10 acts shaft 2 will be rotated clockwise.

only in Figure l) positioned to co-operate with the weight 21 mounted onthe extension 12a (see Figures 1 and 2).

- The operation of the mechanism is as follows:

In the inoperative position shown in Figure 1, the sweep is held up highup above the alley surface. The weight of the mechanism is balanced bythe weights 21 and 2.4 which act both through the arm 4a on theactivator link 4 as well as directly and through'the projection 25 onthe extension 12a and hence the arm 12.

When the control mechanism of the machinedetermines that a sweepingoperation is required, the crank position adopted by the parts afterapproximately 90 of crank arm rotation. The links 7 have been loweredsomewhat, and so have the activator links 4 and with them the drivinglinks 9 and support arms 12. 'As a result, the main sweeper arms 10 havebeen lowered with each roller 22 travelling along the vertical portionof its guide rail 23. i The low point of each guide rail is reached whenthe sweeper is the-required distance above the V alley surface (say oneinch); This is the Figure 2 position. i r g Further clockwise rotationof the crank shaft12 will bring the parts to the .position'shown inFigure 3. The

links 7 have been forced to the left and therewith the activator links4; This has drawn the driving links 9 to the left and causedthe'wholesweeping mechanism to move rearwardly along the surface of the alleywith the rollers 22 running in their respective guide rails 23'. The

gentle upward curvature of the guide rai1s23, at'this point prevents thesweep 15 from eoming'into actual contact with the alley floor serving tomaintain such sweep a constant spacing from such floor. 'The parallellink I mechanisms comprised 'of sweeper arms 10, the upper parts ofbell-cr-ank-levers 16, links 18, 1 9, and 20a,

insure that the sweep 15remain's in its original slightly tiltedinclination to the vertical.

Figure 4 demonstrates what happens if there should be a jam.Theoretically the clearance between the bot tom of the sweep 15 and thealley floor is insufficient to allow even'the head of a into pass underthe sweep,

. but it is not practical to ensure that the device is con structed withsuch precision that the theoretical clearance can be maintained at alltimesand under all operating conditions. a As a practical matter, it isfound that very occasionally jams do occur. The circumstance that ismost likely to give-rise. to a jam is that which occurs when, in thecourse of play, a pin rolls or is knocked forwards along the alley,'i.e.towards the playing end, so that the sweep descendsdirectly onto thepin.

* With the present system, such jams are infrequent and are found nearlyalways, to :be self-clearing, although this may require two successiveoperationsof the sweep. If

the mechanism should'requir'e manual clearing, this will be a simplematter and the mechanism is such that it v' ha it it should happe t at nrm pr gr ss of e. weep 1.5. i pretre ed y some form of re stance toFigure 2 shows the movement of the deadwood on the alley floor, thesweep 15 will ride up over the jammed pins and not exert undue forces onthem. This manner of operation is illustrated generally in Figure 4which shows how the parts are free to move vertically when the sweep isjammed by a pin P with the rollers 22 rising out of their guide rails23. The transmission 1 may include a slipping clutch 28 (Figure 6) whichwill prevent positive transmission of power to the mechanism wheneverexcessive resistance to movement is encountered, i.e. the circumstancesillustrated in Figure 4, but in practice it is found that such a clutchcan usually be omitted without the mechanism causing damage to itself,the pins, or the alley. The fully rearward position of the mechanism isshown in Figure 5, the crank arms 3 having completed a rotation of 180so that the links 9 will have been moved to their maximum rearwardpositions with the rollers 22 engaging almost the rear ends of the guiderails 23.

Continued clockwise rotation of the crank arms 3 through a further 180reverses the movement of the sweep returning it to the original Figure 1position. The counterweights 24 provide assistance to the latter stagesof this movement, firs tly by acting through the activa tor links 4, andthen, once the projections 25 on the arms 4a have re-engaged the Weights21 on the extensions 12a through the support arms 12, which then liftthe sweep 15 and its associated pants up away from towards the alleyplaying area, a main sweeper arm having one end pivotally connected to'the free end ofsaid main support arm so as to form a continuationthereof, a sweep mounted on the free end of said sweeper arm, a guiderail extending along a side of the alley playing area, a followermounted on said main sweeper ar'm'for co-operation with said guide rail,actuating means for swinging said main sweeper arm about its pivotalconnection to said main support arm between a first position in whichsaid main sweeper'arm extends generally hori- V zontally forwardly fromsaid main support arm to hold said sweep high above and forwardly of thepin supporting area of the alley surface, a second'pos'ition in whichsaid main sweeper arm extends generally horizontally but somewhatdownwardly inclined and forwardly from said main support "arm with saidfollower engaging said guide rail to hold said sweep just clear of saidall'ey'surface in a position forward of said pin supporting area, and athird position in which said main sweeper arm depends from said mainsupport arm'with said follower still engaging said guide rail to holdsaid sweepjustclear of said alley, surface in a position rearward ofsaid pin supporting area, the guide railbeing such as to define thedownward limits of swinging movement .ofthe port arm, a link extendingparallelwith said main sweeper arm and interconnecting one arm of saidbell-crank lever aud'said sweep,'the latter being pivotally carried bysaid 5 main sweeper arm, and a further link extending parallel with saidmain support arm for a pivotal connection to the other arm of saidbell-crank lever to a pivotal con nection to the frame.

1,297,951 Wheeler Mar. 18, 1919 6 Cone May 30, 1933 Bates Nov. 13, 1945Johns et a1. Apr. 1, 1952 Zuercher Nov. 6, 1956 Zuercher Mar. 17, 1959

